Ordinary Acts of Bravery [A Divergent Fanfic]

Chapter 22 - The turning point

"I looked at him as a friend until I realized I loved him."

          "Are you two finally done with your make-out session?" Ezekiel asked after he had appeared at the bottom of the stairs. My cheeks had gone fiery red from embarrassment and Eric had merely glared at the older dauntless. "I won't tell, your secret's safe with me." Ezekiel blinked at me when noticing my reaction, but also completely ignoring Eric in the process.

"I trust that Zeek, otherwise you'll deal with me." Eric growled at the guard. Ezekiel laughed nervously and threw his hands up in surrender, but it only lasted a few seconds before his expression faded into one of more seriousness. Ezekiel raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat as he pointed towards the train tracks just up ahead.

"I thought I would give you both a fair warning. Two of the dauntless born initiates is still there, waiting for the next train." Ezekiel spoke calmly, however, Eric's body went rigid the moment he noticed what Ezekiel was pointing at. At first the hand around mine, loosened its grip before releasing it completely. I felt disappointed but I also retracted out of their line of sight in fear they would discover us.

Eric releasing my hand was just a precaution if they dared look up at us. But I still couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit disappointed. It had been warm and comfortably. "I will give them an earful—" Eric began but Ezekiel held a hand out, stopping Eric from even taking a step forwards as his attention shifted to me.

"Then you should give her one too." Ezekiel pointed out and nodded my way. Eric shifted his attention back to me for a short while before releasing an annoyed sigh. Ezekiel was right. "Man, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the help today, but this was too much. You shouldn't be so tough on them, they're still learning." Ezekiel sighed.

"Mind I remind you to keep your nose out of my business and mind your own?" Eric growled at him. Ezekiel threw his arms up in defeat and took a step back. "This was a punishment they deserved. They had been warned what would happen if they began another food war in the dining hall. That those Leneghan twins, chose to extend the battle to me, was just an unfortunate situation." Eric shrugged, raising his arms up to wrap them around his chest.

"Well, if you ever get the need to punish some of them again, you just send them my way. I can always use the help." Ezekiel grinned, pointing to his chest. Then he placed a hand on Eric's shoulder and they exchanged a look. With a small squeeze he stepped back, turned away from us and practically ran back up the stairs. His agility surprised me a bit. Ezekiel had seemed to be older than Eric, by quite a few years. His black hair had more than a few grey streaks.

"As I said earlier, there will be rules." Eric turned back to me once Ezekiel was out of sight, a hand raised and a finger pointed at me. "It's important that we keep this to ourselves, Max especially must not know until you're no longer an initiate. I will be in so much shit if he finds out." I nodded, shifting my attention to Eric's eyes after I had resisted the urge to bite into his finger.